and german chancellor angela merkel was really the lynch pin here. the fact they've agreed to move forward with these sanctions means they are on the same page about something about which they were sharply divided a few days ago. in terms of what those specific sanctions will look like, that remains to be seen. interesting to note, president obama did not mention sanctioning the energy sector in his remarks yesterday. the other option that the u.s. has is to potentially send military aid to ukraine. that is something that ukrainian officials have been calling for, but at this point in time, the u.s. says that they're not going to take that route. so far, though, craig, one more point, putin hasn't been swayed by the sanctions. so it's hard to see what will change between now and those may 25th elections. but the u.s. and its european partners continuing to be in touch as they monitor the ongoing crisis there. craig? >> kristen welker for us from 1600 pennsylvania avenue. kristen, thanks as always. we'll have a report from ukraine coming up in just a